In what may be the first debate in a major Maryland race ever to include a third-party candidate, the three candidates for U.S. Senate will discuss the issues during a two-hour forum at the Greater Baltimore Urban League Tuesday night.
There are also six to eight other possible three-way Senate debates being discussed.
The campaigns of Gov. Robert Ehrlich and Baltimore Mayor Martin O?Malley have also tentatively agreed to two televised debates, but have yet to set the dates.
Democrat Ben Cardin, Republican Michael Steele and Kevin Zeese, the nominee of the Green, Libertarian and Populists parties, will each have 10 minutes to make opening statements, and then answer questions for 90 minutes from two moderators, including questions submitted in writing from the audience.
Nolan Rollins of the Urban League, an urban service organization, said it was “like pulling teeth” to get the candidates to agree, though the principal problem was scheduling the busy candidates. “It?s a great opportunity to impact the people that we serve,” Rollins said, and “ask the questions that are important to us.”
Zeese was not sure if his presence would take more votes away from Cardin or Steele. Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, for whom Zeese served as a spokesman in 2004, got 25 percent of his support from Republicans and 39 percent from Democrats.
“There?s a lot of unhappiness in both political parties,” Zeese said, adding the major party candidates may have agreed to debate him because they haven?t raised as much money as they expected.
In the governor?s race, the two debates will be on WJZ in Baltimore and WMDT in Salisbury. The O?Malley camp had pressed for five TV debates, and they still want more.
The Ehrlich camp had sought four radio debates, but the mayor?s camp declined, objecting to the unfavorable setting of some talk radio shows.
Ehrlich appeared by himself this week on two hourlong radio appearances to which O?Malley had been in invited, one in Baltimore and one in Washington.
“For an incumbent to engage to this degree is unusual,” Ehrlich said on Monday.
All 18 published polls in the governor?s race have shown O?Malley ahead of Ehrlich. This week?s Wall Street Journal-Zogby poll had O?Malley ahead 51 points to Ehrlich?s 39. O?Malley?s internal poll has him nine points ahead, 51 percent to 42 percent.
